


The One That Got Away

by nyonah



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Love Confessions, Lust, Short One Shot, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 04:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13023702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyonah/pseuds/nyonah
Summary: Gladiolus Amiticia has loved Jaena for years, but as soon she is forced into an arranged marriage with him, she leaves Insomnia before Gladio can even blink. What happens when she returns six years later; will Jaena finally convince him to cancel their arranged marriage? Or will Gladio finally confess his feelings?





	The One That Got Away

**Author's Note:**

> I just randomly got this story in my head one day and wrote it out. I don't particularly like the ending, but I couldn't figure out how to finish this so I just have to get over it.

"Man, that Cindy sure is something."

Ignis glanced to his right and shook his head and the lovesick look on Prompto's face. When he looked in his rearview mirror, he noticed the smirk on his Prince's face he tried to cover up.

"Why don't you just grow a pair and ask her to go out with you already? It'd save us the sappy remarks every time we visit Hammerhead for a car repair," Gladio barked, using an impatient tone that took everyone by surprise since he seemed to be in high spirits before they arrived at their favorite mechanic.

After Gladio's remark, the car ride remained relatively silent until they got to Lestallum to grab some lunch before heading to the Hunter's HQ up north. Gladio ran on ahead and jumped in the line to grab a serving of cup-o-noodles while the rest of the group went into town to visit a local vendor and sell some items to afford a much nicer meal than their grumpy partner's.

"So, uh, what's up with Gladio? He was in a good mood, at least a Gladio good mood, before we got to Hammerhead and now he's biting my head off," Prompto said while throwing his pocket contents on the counter, pulling away any pocket lint he may have grabbed in the process.

Ignis adjusted his glasses before crossing his arms, "Gladio is most likely annoyed because you are doing exactly what he did in regards to your obvious crush on a certain female mechanic."

Noctis glanced at Ignis and switched to Prompto before asking the question clearly written on his friend's face. "What are you talking about, Specs?"

Ignis exhaled and addressed his Prince. "Noct, you don't know of the arranged marriage between Gladio and Jaena of the Carlyle family?"

"I'm sorry, did you say 'arranged marriage?'" Noctis asked with a slight scoff.

"Whoa, no way!" Prompto exclaimed before Ignis could answer Noct's question, which incited a very annoyed sigh from Ignis.

"Gladio has known of the arranged marriage for some time now. He grew up with Jaena and has been friends with her since childhood, but when they were both adolescents, their parents decided an arranged marriage would benefit both families. Gladio already agreed to it but Jaena is adamantly fighting against her family to call off the wedding. He's in a foul mood because she's supposed to meet him here so they can talk about it."

"How come he's never mentioned her before?"

Ignis started walking away from the vendor, who was not privy to their conversation, and headed towards the food market.

When the vendor was out of earshot, Ignis continued. "Gladio has been in love with her since before the marriage proposal. You can imagine his relief when he was told of the arrangement, but Jaena was quite livid with the prospect of being forced to do anything. She's always been a free spirit so to speak; even became a fierce hunter after she ran away from home just to escape her family."

"So, how come this puts Gladio in a bad mood if she's coming here?" Prompto put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels.

"Well, it's pretty simple really. Jaena is literally 'the one that got away.'"

* * *

"Dammit," Gladio cursed, spilling some hot noodle soup on his chest, successfully burning him as it trailed down his sternum to his navel.

As he forcefully put his cup-o-noodles on the table, he turned his attention to his right and gazed at the view in deep thought. He failed to notice the presence of another person until he sighed and returned to his now cooled off noodles.

"Hey, Gladdy."

As he heard the familiar voice behind him, his body instantly tensed. Clenching his teeth, he threw back the rest of his noodles and gulped them down in one large swallow. Standing to his feet, his 6'4 frame dwarfed that of his fiancée as she only stood at her petite 5'3.

"Jae," he responded gruffly while using his childhood nickname for her since she used his.

As he took in her appearance, he noticed how much she had changed over the years since he'd last seen her before he began to really train as Noctis' shield. Her face had finally lost all the baby fat she still had when they were teenagers and her high cheek bones accentuated her beautiful blue eyes all the more. She grew her light brown hair out past her shoulders, as was her normal style before and it now touched the top of her jean shorts in a low ponytail. She stood before him wearing a light green tank top that displayed her muscular arms and how well-endowed she had become since her gangly stage before puberty.  Her dog tags hung between her breasts, forcing your attention to them unwillingly, while her shorts stopped on top of legs that seemed like they went on for days, or as much as they could with her being as short as she is.

Gladio rubbed his face with his hand, a mixture of lust and frustration apparent in his face. Jaena could only stare at his rugged features as she had never seen him with a beard before. The obvious attraction she felt towards him was difficult for her to ignore as she came here to talk about their impending marriage.

"It's good to see you. How long has it been? Five or 6 years?" Jaena asked, attempting to break the tension she felt between her and her best friend.

Gladio only leaned back on the table while crossing his arms and legs and grunted his response. This caused Jaena to fidget nervously as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"So, you know why I wanted to see you today. I wanted to talk to you about cancelling the marriage. I think that-

"Why are you so hell bent on this, Jae? Is it so hard to imagine marrying someone like me? Am I not good enough for you? We've known each other since we were kids and as soon as your father tells you about the marriage, you run away and become a _hunter_?"

As he enunciated the last part, he lifts her dog tags in his fist and shook them to emphasize his point.

"It was always my job to project you and now you're just throwing yourself in danger's path. You don't seem to give a shit what I think so maybe I should do you the favor and just refuse to marry you. It's obvious I'll never be able to change your mind." Gladio, even more heated now, started walking away to the balcony near his bench.

Jaena stood through his outburst with a high head, but as soon as he turned his back, she let out the shaky breath she was holding in. How could she ever be honest with him about why she didn't want to marry him? If he knew the reason, he would refuse to ever see her again. Not that it seemed like she was doing herself any favors at this point by forcing him _not_ to marry her. She followed him to the balcony where he was leaning over the side on his arms and stared at the arches out in the distance.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she touched his bicep, causing him to visibly stiffen.

Not turning to face her, he continued to stare into the horizon, but never did he shake his arm free of her touch. Jaena noticed he didn't reject her touch, so she pulled his arm free and wrapped her fingers around his, well as much as she could since his hands dwarfed her petite digits. Finally, he turned his blazing eyes on hers and let his scowl permanently mar his beautiful face, while still firmly holding her hand in his.

"I know you may not see it, but I'm trying to do this for you. I want you to be able to have the freedom to marry someone you _want_ to, not be forced into it because of our stuffy parents. If you could look at this objectively, you'll see I'm-"

"Just shut the hell up."

Jaena stood with her mouth wide open as he successfully cut her off. Finally, her temper got the better of her and she let her rage show.

"I can see that my coming here was just a huge waste of time. I don't even know why I thought I could have a serious discussion with you about this. Just exactly why are you so adamant about this marriage? I mean, my God, excuse me for trying to grant you freedom from this asinine agreement. Do you really want to know why I don't want to marry you? It's because I'm in love with you and the thought of you marrying me just because your _father_ said you have to is enough of a reason for me to want to deny this proposal even exists, you stubborn jackass!" Jaena's face turned red as her voice escalated with each word she said.

Gladio's eyes grew wide as every word she just said sunk in. He watched as Jaena snatched her hand out of his to cross her arms across her chest. He could almost swear he saw steam leaking from her ears.

"Say it again."

"Say what again? That you're a stubborn jackass?" Jaena turned her eyes to Gladio, glowering at his newfound casual expression.

Gladio stood up and turned to face her. "No, the part where you said you were in love with me."

Jaena's face turned as red as a lobster, possibly even redder if such a shade existed, successfully deflating any rage she had left in her system.

"...I never said that," she stammered, clearly embarrassed about her unintentional confession.

"Say. It. Again," Gladio said, enunciating each word while his eyes bore holes into hers.

Gladio slowly moved in front of her, backing her up against the balcony with his intimidating frame. 

"I-I...

Before she could refute the statement again, Gladio grabbed her arm and pulled her against his chest. Cupping both her cheeks with his hands, he lifts her face towards his and bends down to her height. At first, the kiss would be described as light as a feather that barely ghosted across Jaena's lips. If it hadn't been for Gladio's massive hands dwarfing her face, she would have thought it was just a delusion. With her eyes closed, even though she's not sure when that happened, she reveled in the warmth his hands radiated and how comforted she felt.

The cool breath he exhaled on her face smelled of chicken broth and a hint of mint from his morning mouthwash. Jaena felt her entire body break out in goosebumps as his hands trailed down her neck and wrapped around her waist. She heard a small groan come from his throat and felt his chest reverberate with the sound. Oh, that sound did wonders to her lower stomach, causing it to clench in a sudden onslaught of desire for the man holding her.

With a mind of their own, her arms snaked their way around Gladio's neck and pulled him even closer to her, successfully bringing his lips against hers for a much deeper and passionate kiss. The moment their lips touched the second time, it was like a dam broke. Both of them were eagerly fighting to taste more of the other and after a few moments they were forced to break the kiss to sate their burning lungs with huge intakes of air. Eventually, Gladio's desire for the woman in his arms won against his better nature and he bent down and lifted her into his arms bridal style.

"Gladio, what are you doing?" She asked, noticing the determined look on his face.

As soon as Jaena was in his arms, Gladio started heading up the stairs to enter the city and without even looking both ways, he crossed the street in three quick strides. Within seconds, he was dropping Jaena to her feet in front of the Innkeeper and thrusting a large amount of Gil on the counter to pay for a room.

"Thank you, Sir. Your room number is 44 on floor tw-"

The Innkeeper hadn't even finished his instructions before Gladio snatched the door's keycard and was pulling Jaena's arm for her to follow. Before Jaena could form a coherent sentence, they had arrived at their room and Gladio quickly inserted the keycard and opened the door to their room before he turned to Jaena and picked her up by her waist and planted another passionate kiss on her opened mouth while backing through the threshold. When they were clear of the door, he slammed it shut and pushed her back against the mahogany wood frame.

"Sorry, I just don't want my face plastered on the front of some newspaper and cause any issues with Noct."

Jaena kept silent as she felt the coolness of the door through her thin tank top contrast with the radiant warmth from Gladio's arms that were still circling her tiny waist. Taking a deep breath, Gladio lowered his head into the crook of her neck and exhaled, sending shivers through her body.

"Jae, can you not possibly figure out why I didn't want to cancel the marriage? I know you're smarter than that."

Jaena relaxed against Gladio's body and inhaled his scent that was just so _Gladio_. She could clearly make out the smell of the last river he swam in mixed with his personal musk that drove her crazy. After a moment of standing in his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and huffed.

"Well, you could have just told me _before_ I ran away. Now what are we going to do about all the suitors I have waiting for my return?"

Gladio blinked at her statement, clearly confused.

"Wha-"

Before he could finish the word, Jaena was pushing against his chest and laughing.

"You should've seen your face, Gladdy. That was priceless."

Gladio frowned and pulled her body back against his before he leaned down to bite her neck. Once he had, Jaena stopped laughing and he lift his mouth to her ear.

"Jae, I think you need to be taught a lesson about playing jokes."

With that, he lift her up once again and carried her to the bed. This time, she wouldn't get away from Gladiolus Amicitia.


End file.
